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THE  EXCELLENCE  OF  GOODNESS. 


SERMON 


PREACHED    IN 


THE    CHURCH    OF    THE   DISCIPLES, 


IN  BOSTON, 


ON    SUNDAY,    JANUARY   26,    1845, 


BY  THEODORE  PARKER,      "^1 0  -  J ^(y,{) 


MINISTER     OF     THE     SECOND    CHURCH     IN     ROXBUEY. 


PUBLISHED    BY    REQUEST. 


BOSTON 

BENJAMIN   H.   GREENE, 


MDCCCXLV. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1843, 

By  Theodore  Parker, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


boston: 

flUNTED     BY    FREEMAN    AND    BOLLES, 
WASHINGTON    STREET. 


ST 


SERMON. 


2  Sam.  XVIII.  27. 

"  AND    THE    KING    SAID,    HE    IS    A    GOOD    MAN." 

At  the  bottom  of  all  things  there  is  a  Law.  Things  are 
made  to  act  in  a  certain  manner,  and  not  otherwise.  Thus 
the  rock  is  made  to  be  solid  and  the  water  to  be  fluid,  under 
certain  conditions,  and  not  the  reverse.  This  Law,  here  and 
everywhere,  is  perfect.  It  is  the  work  of  God.  All  Law  is 
the  will  of  God  ;  it  is  God  in  action,  for  God  is  not  a  mere 
abstraction,  but  is  concreted  in  part,  so  to  say,  in  the  world  we 
look  upon.  He  is  not  only  the  other  side  of  the  universe, 
but  here ;  here  and  now  ;  as  much  here  as  anywhere.  He 
is  immanent  in  creation,  and  yet  transcends  creation.  Sup- 
pose all  created  worlds  were  struck  out  of  existence,  God 
does  not  cease  to  be ;  does  not  cease  to  be  here,  for  He 
transcends  all  the  created  worlds.  But  they  cannot  exist 
without  God.  You  cannot,  without  a  contradiction,  conceive 
of  them  devoid  of  God,  for  he  is  immanent  therein.  With- 
out his  continual  presence  to  preserve,  as  well  as  his  tran- 
sient presence  to  create,  they  would  cease  to  be.  Indeed 
the  existence  of  these  things  is,  as  it  were,  but  a  continual 
creation. 

This  being  so ;  God  being  in  all,  in  essence  no  less  than 
in  power,  active  in  each  —  smallest  and  greatest  —  and  ac- 
tive too  with  no  let  nor  hindrance  of  his  Infinity,  the  World 
becomes  a  Revelation  of  God,  so  far  as  these  material  things 


can  disclose  and  reveal  the  Infinite  One.  But  these  are  to 
us  only  a  revelation  of  something  kindred  to  qualities  that  are 
awakened  in  ourselves.  Hence  all  men  do  not  see  the  same 
things  revealed  therein.  The  World,  or  any  the  smallest 
particle  thereof,  reveals  God's  Power,  his  Wisdom  and  his 
Goodness.  It  reveals  these  attributes  in  just  that  order  to 
mankind.  In  the  history  of  our  consciousness  we  come,  in 
the  order  of  time,  to  understand  Force  sooner  than  Wis- 
dom, and  that  before  Goodness.  The  natural  man  is  before 
the  spiritual  man.  Mankind  represents  in  its  large  process 
the  same  things  which  you  and  I  represent  in  our  smaller 
story.  In  a  few  years  of  our  early  life  we  must  climb 
through  all  the  stages  which  the  human  race  has  passed  by 
in  its  sixty  centuries  ;  else  we  are  not  up  to  the  level  that 
Mankind  has  reached  in  our  day. 

Watching  the  progress  of  ideas  in  history,  we  see  that  Man- 
kind began  as  we  do,  and  goes  on  as  we  have  gone,  and  first 
became  conscious  of  God's  Power  ;  next  of  his  Wisdom  ;  of 
his  Goodness  last  of  all.  We  see  out  of  us  only  what  we  are 
internally  prepared  to  see  ;  for  seeing  depends  on  the  harmony 
between  the  object  without  and  your  own  condition  within. 
Hence  no  two  of  us  see  the  same  things  in  the  sun,  and 
moon  and  stars  ;  hence  some  men  see  only  God's  Power  in 
the  world,  others  his  Wisdom  also,  and  others  still  his  Good- 
ness crowning  all  the  rest. 

Had  we  some  active  quality  as  much  transcending  Good- 
ness, as  that  surpasses  physical  force,  we  should  see  in  the 
world,  I  doubt  not,  still  further  revelations  of  God  ;  qualities 
higher  than  Goodness.  In  Him  there  may  be,  must  be,  other 
abilities  greater  than  Goodness,  only  you  and  I  can  now  have 
no  conception  thereof,  not  having  analogous  qualities  active  in 
ourselves.  It  is  by  no  means  to  be  supposed  that  our  ideas 
of  God  exhaust  the  character  and  nature  of  God  ;  nor  even 
that  the  material  world  reveals  now  to  us  all  of  Him  which  it 
might  reveal  had  we  a  higher  nature,  or  a  larger  development 


of  the  nature  we  have.  The  limit  of  our  finite  comprehen- 
sion is  no  bound  to  the  Infinite  God.  If  a  Bear  were  to  look 
at  a  watch,  he  might  notice  the  glitter  of  the  metal,  perhaps 
attend  to  its  constant  click.  But  the  contrivance  of  the  watch 
he  would  not  see,  nor  yet  its  use,  not  having  in  himself  the 
qualities  to  appreciate,  or  even  apprehend  that  contrivance 
or  that  use.  How  inadequate  a  conception  must  he  have 
both  of  the  watch  and  the  man  who  made  it  !  So  it  is  with 
us  in  our  application  of  the  World,  and  its  jNIaker.  We  are 
all  in  this  respect  but  as  Bears. 

Now  men  admire  in  God  what  they  admire  in  themselves. 
It  is  so  unavoidably.  You  may  see  three  periods  in  man's 
history.  In  the  first  bodily  force  is  most  highly  prized. 
Here  the  Hero  is  the  strongest  man  ;  he  who  can  run  the 
swiftest,  and  strike  the  hardest ;  is  fearless  and  cruel.  In 
that  state,  men  conceive  mostly  of  a  God  of  Force.  He  is  a 
man  of  War.  He  thunders  and  lightens.  He  rides  on  the 
wind  ;  is  painted  with  thunderbolts  in  his  hand.  He  sends 
the  Plague  and  Famine.  The  wheels  of  his  chariot  rattle  in 
war.  What  represents  Force  is  a  type  of  Him.  In  some 
primitive  nations  their  name  of  God  meant  only  the  Strong 
—  the  Powerful. 

Then  as  men  advance  a  little,  there  comes  a  period  in 
which  intellectual  poiver  or  Wisdom,  is  prized  above  bodily 
force.  Men  esteem  its  superiority,  for  they  see  that  one  wise 
head  is  a  match  for  many  strong  bodies.  It  can  command  ten 
weak  men  to  overcome  a  strong  one,  whom  singly  they  dared 
not  touch  ;  but  no  aggregation  of  foolish  men,  however  nu- 
merous, can  ever  outwit  a  single  wise  man,  for  no  combina- 
tion of  many  little  follies  can  ever  produce  wisdom.  In 
this  stage,  he  is  the  hero  who  has  the  most  intellectual 
power  ;  knows  the  secrets  of  nature  ;  has  skill  to  rule  men  ; 
speaks  wise  sayings.  Saul,  the  tallest  man,  has  given  place 
to  Solomon,  the  wisest  man.  The  popular  conception  of 
God  changes  to  suit  this  stage  of  growth.    Men  see  His  Wis- 


6 

dom  ;  they  see  it  in  the  birth  of  a  child,  in  the  course  of  the 
sun  and  moon  ;  in  the  return  of  the  seasons ;  in  the  instinct  of 
the  emmet  or  the  ostrich  :  God  works  the  wonders  of  nature. 
Wisdom  is  the  chief  attribute  in  this  age  ascribed  to  God. 
Who  shall  teach  Him  7  says  the  contemplative  man  of  this 
age  —  where  the  sage  of  a  former  day  would  have  asked,  who 
can  overcome  Him  1 

There  comes  yet  another  period,  in  which  moral  poiver  is 
appreciated.  He  is  the  hero  who  sees  moral  truth  ;  walks 
uprightly  ;  subordinates  his  private  will  to  the  universal  law ; 
tells  the  truth ;  is  reverent  and  pious ;  loves  goodness  and  lives 
it.  The  Saint  has  become  the  Hero ;  he  rules  not  by  superior 
power  of  Hand,  or  superior  power  of  Head,  but  by  superior 
power  of  Heart  —  by  Justice,  Truth  and  Love  ;  in  one  word,  by 
Righteousness.  "  The  Queen  of  Sheba  came  from  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,"  said 
Jesus,  "  but  behold  a  greater  than  Solomon  is  here."  In  this 
period,  men  form  a  higher  conception  of  God.  Men  believe 
that  he  is  not  only  wise,  but  good  ;  He  loves  men  ;  He  loves 
justice,  goodness,  truth  ;  demands  goodness  and  not  sacrifice  ; 
He  keeps  his  word  and  is  an  upright  God.  He  is  no  longer 
regarded  as  the  God  of  the  Mosaic  law,  jealous,  revengeful, 
exacting  ;  but  as  a  Father  of  infinite  goodness.  In  one  word, 
God  is  Love.  He  is  not  a  man  of  war,  nor  a  worker  of  won- 
ders barely,  but  a  Saviour.  The  Jewish  name  of  God  — 
Jehovah  —  does  not  appear  in  the  New  Testament !  Read 
the  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament  in  connection, 
you  will  see  this  twofold  progress  in  the  state  of  man,  and 
these  divergent  conceptions  of  God.  However,  you  will  not 
find  them  distinctly  separated,  as  in  this  sketch  ;  you  must 
estimate  them  by  their  centre  and  type,  not  by  their  circum- 
ference, for  in  nature  and  in  human  aflfairs  there  are  no 
classes  of  things,  but  only  individuals,  which  we  group  into 
classes  for  convenience  in  understanding  their  relations  one 
to  another.     But  these  facts  are  suggestive  to  such  as  think. 


It  was  said  there  is  a  Law  at  the  bottom  of  all  things ;  that 
this  law  is  the  will  of  God,  who  is  immanent  in  nature,  and 
yet  transcends  nature  ;  that  it  is  God  in  action.  The  same 
rule  holds  good  in  relation  to  mankind.  Here  also  is  a  law. 
God  is  immanent  in  man  as  much  as  in  nature,  yet  as  much 
transcending  man.  This  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  ap- 
pears in  various  forms  in  all  the  more  spiritual  sects  of  Christ- 
ians. But  we  are  conscious  and  free,  having  power  to  keep 
the  law,  or,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  violate  it ;  we  are  not  merely 
to  be  governed  as  the  material  world  —  but  to  be  self -gov- 
erned. As  conscious  and  free  beings  it  is  our  duty  to  keep 
this  law  ;  to  keep  it  knowingly  and  voluntarily,  not  merely 
because  we  should  as  duty,  but,  also  and  no  less,  because  we 
would  as  desire  ;  thus  bringing  the  whole  of  our  nature  into 
obedience  to  God.  This  our  duty  is  our  welfare  too.  Now 
Goodness  is  the  keeping  of  this  law ;  the  keeping  thereof 
knowingly  and  joyfully,  with  the  hand,  with  the  head,  with 
the  heart.  Goodness  is  conformity  with  God  in  the  matter 
of  self-government.  In  its  highest  form  it  is  a  conscious  con- 
formity therewith,  and  so  is  Religion.  The  good  man  puts 
himself  in  a  line  with  God  ;  in  unison  with  Him.  He  ac- 
cords with  God,  and  works  after  where  God  has  worked  be- 
fore. In  the  matter  of  self-government  he  is  consciously  one 
with  God  ;  for  God's  law  acts  through  him,  and  by  him,  with 
no  let  nor  hindrance. 

Now  we  do  not  always  appreciate  the  excellence  of  Good- 
ness. We  seldom  believe  in  its  power.  Mankind  has  been 
struggling  here  on  the  earth  six  thousand  years  —  perhaps 
much  longer,  —  who  knows  ?  Yet  even  now,  few  men  see 
more  than  signs  of  God's  Power  and  Wisdom  in  the  world. 
Most  men  stop  at  the  first.  The  force  of  muscles  they  un- 
derstand better  than  the  force  of  mind,  and  that  better 
than  the  excellence  of  justice,  uprightness,  truth  and  love. 
So  it  has  become  a  political  maxim  to  trust  a  man  of  able 
intellect,  sooner  than  a  just  and  good  man  of  humbler  mind. 


8 

Most  men,  perhaps,  tremble  before  a  God  who  can  destroy 
the  world  to-morrow,  and  send  babes  new-born  to  endless  hell, 
far  more  than  they  rejoice  in  a  God  who  rules  by  perfect 
justice,  truth  and  love,  who  to-day  blesses  whatever  he  has 
made,  and  will  at  last  bless  them  all  more  abundantly  than 
thought  can  fancy  or  heart  can  wish. 

We  bow  before  the  man  of  great  capabilities  of  thought, 
of  energetic  mind,  of  deep  creative  genius.  Yet  is  the  good 
man  greater  than  the  wise  man  —  taking  wisdom  in  its  com- 
mon sense  of  intellectual  power,  capacity  of  thought  ;  — 
greater  and  nobler  far  !  He  rests  on  a  greater  idea.  He 
lives  in  a  larger  and  loftier  sentiment.  Yet  I  would  not  un- 
dervalue intellectual  power.  Who  of  us  does  not  reverence 
a  man  that  has  the  understanding  of  things  ;  whose  capacious 
mind  grasps  up  the  wonders  of  this  earth,  its  animals  and 
plants,  its  stones  and  trees ;  who  measures  the  heavens, 
and  tells  the  wonders  of  the  stars,  the  open  secret  of  the 
universe  ;  knows  the  story  of  man  ;  is  possessed  of  the  ideas 
that  rule  the  world  ;  has  gathered  the  wisdom  of  the  past, 
and  feels  that  of  the  present  throb  mightily  within  his  heart  ? 
Who  does  not  honor  that  capaciousness  of  thought,  which 
sees  events  in  their  causes  ;  can  rule  a  nation  as  you  your 
household,  forecasting  its  mighty  destinies  and  that  for  cen- 
turies of  years,  and  moulding  the  fate  of  millions  yet  to  come  ? 
Who  does  not  appreciate  the  man  who  can  speak  what  all 
feel,  but  feel  dumbly,  and  can't  express ; .  who  enchants  us 
with  great  thoughts  which  we  know  to  be  our  own,  but  could 
not  say  them  ;  the  man  who  holds  the  crowd,  or  the  nation, 
breathless,  pausing  at  his  thought,  and  sways  them  to  and  fro 
as  sway  the  waters  underneath  the  moon  ?  Who  will  not 
honor  the  poetic  mind  which  tells  the  tale  of  our  life,  and 
paints  to  us  in  rythmic  speech  the  rocks,  the  trees,  the  wind 
singing  melodious  in  every  pine,  the  brook  melting  adown  its 
sinuous  course  ;  which  tells  anew  the  story  of  our  hopes  and 
fears,  our  passions,  tears  and  loves,  and  paints  the  man  so 


very  like,  he  trembles  but  to  recognize  himself?  Who  does 
not  honor  the  man  of  vast  mind,  that  concentrates  in  himself 
the  ideas  and  sentiments  of  an  age,  and  shoots  them  forth  far 
on  into  the  darkness  of  the  coming  time,  a  stream  of  light, 
dazzling  and  electric  too,  where  millions  come  and  light  their 
little  torch,  and  kindle  with  its  touch  their  household  fire  ? 
I  would  not  undervalue  this  power  of  thought,  the  mind's 
creative  skill.  It  is  not  the  meanest  ambition  to  seek  to  rise 
above  the  mass  of  men  in  this,  and  rule  not  o'er  their  bodies 
but  o'er  their  minds,  by  power  of  thought,  and  live  a  king  for 
many  a  hundred  years.  It  is  the  last  infirmity  of  noble 
men.  There  is  a  magnificence,  in  force  of  mind  which  may 
well  bid  us  all  look  up  to  admire,  and  bow  down  to  do  hom- 
age. It  is  vast  and  awful  even  when  alone,  not  wedded  with 
a  noble  heart.     I  would  be  the  last  to  undervalue  this. 

But  it  is  little  compared  to  the  power  of  Goodness  —  the  rest- 
ing, living  in  those  ever  fair  ideas  which  we  call  Justice,  Right, 
Religion,  Truth,  —  it  is  very  little  and   very  poor.     In  time 
we  confess  it  is  so  of  each  great,  but  wicked  man  of  thought. 
Men  who  stood  aghast,  awed  by  the  terrific  mind  of  Caesar, 
of  Cromwell,  of  Napoleon,  come  at  length  to  see  that  a  single 
good  man,  who  conforms  with  God,  yields  to  no  temptation, 
harbors  no  revenge,  —  not  railing  when  mocked  at,  not  pay- 
ing back  scorn  for  scorn  ;  who  is  able  to  stand  alone  amid 
the  desertion  of  friends,  and  the  ribald  mockery  of  the  public 
mind,  serenely  lifting  up  a  forehead  blameless  and  unabashed 
to  men  and  God  ;  he  who  lives  in  the  law  of  the  Just,  the 
Good,  the  Holy  and  the  True  —  he  is  greater  than  all  Caesars, 
all  Cromwells,  all   Napoleons.     His  power  is  real,  not  de- 
pending on  the  accident  of  a  throne  or  an  army,  and  as  the 
most  ancient  Heaven,  is  permanent  and  strong,  resting  on 
the  same  foundation  with  them  —  the  law  of  God.     He  lives 
in  his  undying  powers. 

Ask  yourself  what  is  it  that  makes  you  admire  this  or  that 
great  man  ?     Is  it  what  is  highest  in  you,  or  what  is  lowest  ? 
2 


10 

Is  it  your  best  quality  ?  If  not,  then  is  your  admiration  not 
of  the  best  things  in  man,  for  the  quality  you  admire  in  him 
is  only  an  enlargement  of  the  same  quality  in  yourself.  Your 
little  honors  his  much,  and  if  your  little  is  not  of  your  best, 
no  more  is  his  much.  It  is  dangerous  to  admire  what  it  is 
not  safe  to  love. 

Now  all  things  in  nature  league  with  the  good  man  ;  her 
symbols  and  her  soothing  influence  are  on  virtue's  side.  So 
are  the  highest  sentiments  that  flash  as  lightning  on  your 
mind  in  some  great  hour  —  the  sunrise  of  the  soul.  Good- 
ness unites  all  men.  It  hinders  no  other  man's  goodness,  for 
it  is  not  selfish  ;  rests  on  nothing  private,  personal  to  you  or 
me,  but  on  what  is  universal,  patent  to  the  world.  It  is 
Badness  that  separates  ;  makes  man  afraid  of  his  brother, 
jealous,  and  exclusive.  Badness  rests  on  somewhat  private, 
and  personal  to  you  and  me.  It  seeks  its  own  ;  only  its 
own  welfare.  There  cannot  be  a  community  of  misers  and 
cut-throats.  They  must  lay  aside  their  miserly  and  murder- 
ous principles  before  they  can  live  together.  Birds  of  prey 
never  go  in  flocks  ;  they  are  grasping,  each  takes  before  the 
other.  It  is  a  social  nature  that  unites  in  groups  the  harm- 
less sheep,  the  ox,  the  horse.  It  is  not  this,  but  famine, 
stern  necessity,  that  crowds  hysenas  and  wolves  together 
into  bands,  when  they  would  bring  down  some  beast  of 
noble  mark.  Spiders  cannot  work  together,  harmonious  as 
silk  worms.     They  bite  and  devour  one  another.' 

When  a  good  man  commences  his  career  of  Goodness, 
skeptics  will  doubt,  and  bigots  will  oppose  him.  These  men 
have  no  faith  in  Goodness,  only  in  cunning  or  in  force.  But 
the  great  heart  of  mankind  will  beat  with  him.  Even  men 
indented  to  sin  will  forsake  their  old  tyrants,  and  welcome  him 


'  It  is  said  that  some  French  philosophers,  irreligiously  disregarding  this  hint 
of  nature,  shut  up  a  great  quantity  of  spiders,  in  hopes  of  obtaining  a  material  finer 
than  silk,  and  in  quantities  proportionate  to  the  spider's  energy.  But  the  spiders 
quarreled  more  than  they  spun,  and  in  a  few  days  there  was  but  one  spider  left. 


11 

to  their  arms,  confessing  their  former  Hfe  a  mistake  and  a 
grievous  curse.  By-and-by  the  world  rolls  round  to  his  side, 
and  the  longer  it  stands  the  more  will  his  ideas  prevail,  for 
the  world  is  going  a  pilgrimage  towards  the  Truth. 

The  secret  history  of  the  world  is  a  contest  between  ideas 
of  Goodness  and  Badness.  We  sometimes  think  it  is  all  over 
with  Goodness  ;  but  it  gets  the  better  continually.  What  is 
bad  dies  out,  perishing  slowly  in  the  ages.  What  is  good 
lives  forever.  A  truth  is  never  obsolete.  All  nature  is 
really  leagued  against  selfishness  ;  for  God  is  the  author  of 
nature,  and  there  is  no  Devil.  A  selfish  nation  digs  its  own 
grave  ;  if  strong  it  digs  it  all  the  deeper,  and  the  more  secure. 
That  is  the  lesson  which  Rome  teaches  the  world.  A  selfish 
party  in  the  nation  does  the  same  thing.  A  selfish  man  in 
society  seems  to  succeed,  but  his  success  is  ruin.  He  has 
poisoned  his  own  bread.  For  all  that  is  ill  got  he  must  pay 
back  tenfold.  God  is  not  mocked.  The  man  laughs  that  he 
has  escaped  a  duty.  Poor,  blind  man  !  A  curse  has  fallen 
on  him  ;  it  cleaves  to  his  bones.  Justice  has  feet  like  wool, 
so  noiseless  you  hear  not  her  steps  ;  but  her  hands  are  hands 
of  iron,  and  where  God  lays  them  down  it  is  not  in  man  to 
lift  them  up. 

A  moral  man,  from  the  height  of  his  idea,  looks  down  on 
the  world  and  sees  the  cause,  process  and  result  of  all  this. 
He  sees  that  the  bad  man  has  conjured  up  a  fiend  to  stand 
always  beside  him,  corrupting  his  dainties  ;  while  all  the  foes 
that  attack  a  good  man  are  by  the  magic  wand  of  his  Good- 
ness, transformed  to  angels  which  encamp  about  his  dwel- 
ling-place to  guard  him  from  Sloth  and  Pride.  For  all  good 
actions,  sentiments  and  tiioughts  a  tenfold  recompense  is  paid 
him  here.  We  all  know  the  history  of  Caesar,  the  fortunes 
of  Cromwell,  the  story  of  Napoleon  —  men  that  towered 
over  the  world  as  giants  of  vast  intellectual  force  of  com- 
paratively litde  goodness ;  of  little  power  of  heart.  What 
if  one  had  the  head  of  Napoleon,  and  the  heart  of  Fenelon  ; 


12 

if  such  an  one  should  rise  amongst  us  ;  should  be  a  senator 
of  these  United  States,  their  president ;  m  hat  an  effect  would 
it  have  on  us  ;  on  the  nations  of  the  world  ;  on  millions  yet 
unborn  !  What  a  monument  would  he  build  —  that  should 
last  perennially  fair  when  the  Pyramids  shall  have  crumbled 
into  dust ;  what  a  furrow  of  light  would  his  name  leave  be- 
hind him  in  the  world  !  How  would  he  elevate  our  notions 
of  a  man  —  yes,  our  notions  of  God  !  To  be  ruled  by  such 
an  one  would  be  the  beginning  of  freedom.  What  advance 
should  we  make  in  the  qualities  of  a  man  !  Nature  would  be 
on  his  side,  and  God  none  the  less.  If  it  be  not  the  meanest 
ambition  to  rule  over  men's  minds  by  the  power  of  thought 
—  but  a  great  excellency,  as  the  world  goes,  —  what  shall  be 
said  of  the  desire  to  live  in  men's  hearts  by  the  magic  oi 
Goodness  ;  the  ambition  to  lead  all  men  to  be  brothers,  to 
conform  with  God,  to  live  by  his  Law,  and  be  blessed  by  the 
freedom  of  obedience,  and  so  be  one  with  Him  ?  Why, 
words  cannot  paint  the  excellence  of  that  zeal  of  a  seraphic 
soul. 

Goodness  is  the  service  of  God.  The  good  Heart,  the 
good  Life  are  the  best,  the  only  sacrifice  that  He  demands. 
When  men  saw  mainly  the  power  of  God,  trembling  thereat, 
they  made  sacrifice  of  things  dearest  to  them  —  to  bribe  their 
God,  as  to  appease  a  cruel  king.  "  Come  not  empty-handed 
before  thy  God,"  said  the  priest.  Even  now,  many  a  man 
who  sees  also  the  Wisdom  of  God,  and  bows  before  Him  as 
the  soul  of  thought,  will  sacrifice  reason,  conscience  and 
good  sense,  as  Abraham  would  offer  Isaac,  and  as  Solomon 
slew  sheep  and  goats.  They  think  God  loves  tears  and  hates 
smiles,  so  they  pay  him  with  gloom,  gloomy  Sundays  and 
gloomy  weeks,  and  most  despairing  and  melancholy  prayers. 
How  many  think  Religion  to  consist  of  this  !  Belief  is  the 
sign  of  their  Christianity  and  its  only  proof  I  No  doubt  there 
are,  practically  speaking,  two  parts  of  Religion  :  Piety  the 


13 

sentiment,  Morality  the  expression,  a  revelation  of  that  senti- 
ment, as  the  World  is  a  revelation  of  God.  Piety  is  the 
in-ness  of  Morality,  as  Morality  is  the  out-ness  of  Piety. 
No  doubt  there  are  two  parts  of  service  to  God,  namely.  Faith 
and  Love  within  the  man.  Works  and  Goodness  without  the 
man.  If  faithful  Love  be  in  the  man,  works  of  Goodness 
must  needs  appear  in  his  manifested  life.  If  not,  who  shall 
assure  us  that  Faith  and  Love  exist  within  ?  A  good  tree  is 
known  by  its  good  fruit.  It  is  of  more  importance  that  the 
tree  be  good,  than  it  be  called  by  a  good  name. 

Now  one  of  the  sacramental  sins  of  the  Christian  Churches, 
has  been  to  lay  the  main  stress  on  expressions  of  faith,  on 
Devotion,  or  Belief.  If  they  laid  the  main  stress  on  real  Piety 
that  were  well,  for  it  would  be  making  the  tree  good,  when 
of  course  its  fruit  would  be  also  good.  Piety  is  love  of  God 
with  the  mind  and  heart ;  he  who  has  this  must  conform  to 
God  in  his  self-government,  so  far  as  he  knows  God's  will. 
But  Piety  cannot  be  forced.  It  eludes  the  eye.  It  will  not 
be  commanded  nor  obey  the  voice  of  the  charmer.  So  the 
churches  early  insisted  that  Belief  and  Devotion  were  the 
main  things  of  Christianity.  They  told  men  what  to  believe 
—  how  to  be  devout.  They  gave  men  a  creed  for  their 
belief,  and  a  form  or  a  rite  for  their  devotion.  Tiie  whole 
thing  was  brought  into  the  outer  court  —  placed  under  the 
eye  of  the  Priest,  Behold  Christianity  made  easy  ;  the  Power 
of  God  and  the  Wisdom  of  God,  and  God's  Goodness  too 
become  a  stumbling-block  and  foolishness  to  the  Christians 
themselves  !  None  was  accounted  a  Christian  but  a  Conform- 
ist to  the  ways  of  man.  He  only  was  a  Christian  who  be- 
lieved the  popular  creed,  and  complied  with  the  popular 
form.  The  Absolute  Religion  of  Christ  had  passed  away  from 
the  churches  ;  the  sectarianism  of  the  priesthood  had  usurped 
its  place.  Goodness  was  cheated  of  its  due.  In  the  name 
of  Christ  was  it  taught  that  a  good  man  might  be  damned ; 
he  had  kept  the  Law  of  God,  as  reason  and  conscience  make 


14 

it  known  ;  he  had  been  faithful  to  God  and  true  and  loving 
to  man  ;  he  had  believed  all  things  that  to  him  were  credi- 
ble, and  done  prayerfully  the  duty  of  a  man.  "  What  of 
that,"  said  the  priest,  "  he  has  not  believed  nor  worshiped 
with  the  rest  of  men.  Hell  waiteth  for  such."  Would  to 
God  I  could  say  that  these  things  only  ivere ;  that  they  are 
not.  It  has  for  many  a  hundred  years  been  a  heresy  in  the 
christian  churches,  to  believe  that  a  man  goes  to  heaven  on 
account  of  his  goodness,  his  righteousness,  or  is  acceptable 
to  God  because  he  walks  manfully  by  the  light  God  gives 
him !  Has  been,  did  I  say  ?  Far  worse,  it  is  so  now  ! 
It  is  a  heresy  to  believe  it  now  in  all  popular  and  recog- 
nized churches  of  Christendom  !  A  creed  and  a  rite  are  of 
course  but  external  —  only  the  gold  of  the  altar  —  not  the 
altar  sanctifying  the  gold.  Once  they  were  symbols,  perhaps, 
and  signs  of  all  good  things  to  some  pious  man.  They 
helped  him  to  commune  with  God.  They  aided  him  to 
grow.  Losing  their  first  estate,  to  many  they  become  not 
stimulants  of  goodness,  but  substitutes  for  it.  The  man  rests 
at  the  symbol  and  learns  no  more  ! 

It  was  so  in  Judea  when  Christ  came  into  the  world. 
No  nation  of  old  time  surpassed  the  Jews  in  their  concern 
for  external  rites  of  devotion.  No  modern  nation  has  equaled 
them  in  this.  But  they  were  not  a  good  and  moral  nation  ; 
they  were  not  then,  and  are  not  now.  They  were  always 
hated  —  not  without  some  reason.  Let  us  do  them  justice 
for  their  marvellous  merits,  but  not  be  blind  to  their  faults. 
Christ  found  that  in  the  popular  faith  Goodness  and  Religion 
were  quite  different  things.  Men  thought  that  God  was  to 
be  served  by  rites  and  beliefs.  So  the  priests  had  taught, 
making  religion  consist  in  what  was  useless  to  God  and 
man  ;  —  a  wretched  science  with  the  few,  a  paltry  ceremony 
with  the  mass.  Not  so  did  the  Prophets  teach,  for  Priests 
and  Prophets  are  never  agreed.  Christ  fell  back  on  Good- 
ness.    He  demanded  this,    he    set    forth    its    greatness,    its 


15 

power,  in  his  words  and  in  his  Hfe.  He  encumbered  no  man 
with  creeds,  nor  rites.  He  said,  "  He  that  doeth  the  will  of 
my  Father  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  He  summed  up  the 
essentials  of  Religion  in  a  few  things,  a  right  heart,  and  a 
right  life,  in  Piety  and  Goodness.  He  knew  they  would  ex- 
tend, and  that  swiftly,  to  many  things.  Moses  and  the  Law 
might  go  their  way  ;  they  had  authority  to  bind  no  man. 
His  words  were  their  own  evidence  and  proof;  moral  truth 
is  its  own  witness.  He  had  authority.  Whence  came  it  ? 
From  the  Scribes  and  the  Priests  ?  They  hated  him.  From 
tradition,  Moses,  the  Old  Testament  ?  Quite  as  little.  He 
put  them  behind  him.  He  had  authority  because  he  con- 
formed to  God's  Law,  in  his  mind  and  in  his  heart,  and  in 
his  life.  So  God  spoke  through  him ;  inspiration  came ; 
and  though  his  friends  forsook  him,  and  Church  and  State 
rose  in  tumult,  clamorous  for  his  overthrow  ;  though  the  world 
turned  against  him,  and  he  stood  alone,  he  was  not  alone  — 
better  than  Friends,  and  Church,  and  State,  and  World, 
better  than  twelve  legions  of  Angels,  the  Father  was  with 
him,  and  he  fell  not  ! 

Even  publicans  and  harlots  welcomed  him.  They  did  not 
love  Sin.  They  had  been  deluded  into  its  service  ;  they 
found  it  a  hard  master.  Joyfully  they  deserted  that  hopeless 
Armada  to  sail  the  seas  with  God,  soon  as  one  came  who  put 
the  heart,  conscience,  reason  on  religion's  side,  speaking  with 
an  authority  they  felt  before  they  saw,  showing  that  religion 
was  real  and  dear.  Humble  men  saw  the  mystery  of  Godli- 
ness, they  felt  the  power  of  Goodness  which  streamed  forth 
from  their  brother's  heart  of  fire.  They  started  to  found  a 
Church  on  Goodness,  on  Absolute  Religion,  little  knowing 
what  they  did.  Alas  it  was  a  poor  Church  which  men  founded 
in  that  great  name,  though  the  best  the  world  ever  saw  ;  it  was 
little  compared  with  the  ideas  of  Jesus  ;  little  and  poor  com- 
pared with  the  excellence  of  Goodness  and  the  power  of  real 
Religion. 


16 

Some  day  there  will  be  churches  built  in  which  it  shall  be 
taught  tliat  the  only  outward  service  God  asks  is  Goodness, 
and  Truth  the  only  creed  ;  that  a  Divine  Life  —  piety  in  the 
heart,  and  ]Morality  in  the  hand  —  is  the  only  real  worship. 
Men  will  use  symbols  or  not,  as  they  like  ;  perhaps  will  still 
cling  to  such  as  have  helped  us  hitherto ;  perhaps  leave  them 
all  beiiind,  and  have  communion  with  man  in  work,  and 
word,  and  joyful  sympathy,  with  God  through  the  elements  of 
earth,  and  air,  and  water,  and  the  sky  ;  or  in  a  serener  hour, 
without  these  elements,  come  nearer  yet  to  Him.  But  in 
that  day  will  men  forget  Jesus  —  the  son  of  Joseph,  the  car- 
penter, whom  the  priests  slew- — as  a  madman  and  an  infidel ; 
but  whom  the  world  has  worshiped  as  a  God  ?  Will  his 
thought,  his  sentiments,  his  influence  pass  away  ?  No !  oh 
no.  What  rests  on  the  ideas  of  God,  lasts  with  those  ideas. 
Power  shall  vanish  ;  glory  shall  pass  away ;  England  and 
America  may  become  as  Nineveh  and  Babylon.  Yes,  the 
incessant  hand  of  Time  may  smooth  down  the  ruggedness  of 
the  Alleghany  and  the  Andes,  but  so  long  as  man  is  man 
must  these  truths  of  Jesus  live  ;  Religion  be  the  love  of  man, 
the  love  of  God.  Men  will  not  name  Jesus  God  ;  they  may 
not  call  him  Master,  but  the  world's  Teacher.  They  will 
love  him  as  their  great  Brother,  who  taught  the  Truth,  and 
lived  the  life  of  Heaven  here  ;  who  broke  the  fetters  of  the 
oppressed,  and  healed  the  bruises  of  the  sick,  and  blessed  the 
souls  of  all.  Then  will  Goodness  appear  more  transcendent, 
and  he  will  be  deemed  the  best  Christian  who  is  most  like 
Christ ;  most  excelling  in  Truth,  Piety  and  Goodness.  They 
will  not  be  the  preachers  who  bind,  but  they  who  loose 
mankind  ;  who  are  full  of  truth  ;  who  live  great  noble  lives, 
and  walk  with  Goodness  and  with  God.  Worship  will  be 
fresh  and  natural  as  the  rising  sun  —  beautiful  like  that,  and 
full  of  promise  too.  Truth  for  the  creed  ;  Goodness  for  the 
form;  Love  for  the  baptism  —  shall  we  wait  for  that;  with 
folded  arms  ?  No,  brothers,  no.  Let  us  live  as  if  it  were  so 
now.     Earth  shall  be  blessed  and  heaven  ours. 


